I’m surprised that many people watch CNN anymore. Biden lost to Tucker Carlson & Sean Hannity by half and even lost to Chris Hayes & Rachel Maddow on MSNBC by a couple hundred thousand. That’s shocking because we know no one watches MSNBC. In the key demo of 25 to 54 they only scored 271,000 viewers.
According to early numbers from Nielsen Media Research, the Biden town hall from Baltimore, which was moderated by Anderson Cooper, delivered just 1.2 million viewers from 8 p.m. ET to 9:30 p.m. In the younger demographic (25 to 54-year-olds) that advertisers covet most, the commander in chief commanded a paltry 271,000 viewers.
For context in the cable news race, an average of 2.83 million viewers watched Fox News’s Tucker Carlson (8 p.m.) and the first half of Sean Hannity (9 p.m.). That’s more than 1.6 million more viewers. Meanwhile, MSNBC’s Chris Hayes (8 p.m.) and Rachel Maddow (9 p.m.) attracted an average of 1.39 million viewers in taking second place.
For even more context, Biden drew 3.4 million viewers during his first town hall as president on CNN in February. Thursday night’s audience, marking more than a 60 percent drop. For more context, the last town hall Donald Trump did with CNN occurred when he wasn’t even the Republican nominee in March 2016, when the first-time candidate captured 3.26 million viewers.
Biden’s safe-space CNN town hall attracts small audience, as poll numbers plummet | TheHill
Maybe it’s awkward moments like this that turn people off. It’s difficult to watch a man melt and crumble mentally right before your eyes.